Chemical-Induced Dormancy Breaking of Freshly Harvested Potato Minitubers and Its Effect on Subsequent Growth and Yield

Abstract

Tuber dormancy is an important phenomenon in potato seed production cycle and its duration can positively affect the number of crops and crop performance during the seed production. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different factors which include potato genotypes (Roko and SM kaghan varieties), chemical treatments i.e GA3, thiourea, Thiourea+GA3 and sugar under light and dark storage conditions. It was found that between varieties, Roko responded better than SM kaghan to various chemical treatments regarding number of days to dormancy breaking. It was found that the growth hormone GA3 (gibberellic acid) in combination with thiourea can significantly increase sprouting percentage to 100% under dark conditions after 31 days of application. However, it was observed that after planting of the treated tubers the emergence percentage, and minituber yield did not show any significant effect of the three experimental treatments in comparison with control. It is therefore concluded that tuber treatment with thiourea+GA3 and store in dark can decrease the dormancy duration without having any negative effect on plant physiological growth and tuber yield.